Team 7: Isobront
by OfInfinitum
Summary: ISOBRONT: a line on a chart marking the simultaneous development of a thunderstorm at different points on the earth's surface. They could be a storm, a raging flash of lightning and thunder. If only they could get the chance to fester. [Team 7 AU]
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 : The Influence of Ghost

* * *

 _"Now the waves they drag you down_

 _Carry you to broken ground_

 _Though I find you in the sand_

 _Wipe you clean with dirty hands_

 _So goddamn this boiling space_

 _The Spanish Sahara, the place that you'd wanna_

 _Leave the horror here_

 _Forget the horror here_

 _Leave it all down here_

 _It's future rust and then it's future dust" - Spanish Sahara : Foals_

* * *

Kakashi dreams of people fading, slowly turning more and more transparent until they're gone. They disappear, and he's left alone in a vast blank space that he's become so familiar with. It's unsettling, the intimacy he has with loneliness, and it jolts him awake shaking and his left eye _throbbing_. Twelve years of the same occurring nightmare leaves one with their heart wailing.

He doesn't know what to do.

The moonlight peaks through his blinds, begging to come through. Konaha is silent, well past sunset but long before dawn. The silence is not welcomed. Kakashi wants nothing more than to hear the bustling of the streets below, the sounds of chatter and life. Anything to remind that there are other people in the world, and he's not alone in vast expanse of space with nothing but a scar on his face and ghost at his side. There's a picture frame on his bedside, face down on the stand. He doesn't want to see the dead smiling back at him, but he grabs the picture and stares at it because no matter how much he wants to, he can't let himself _forget._

Regrets are lessons to learn by, and he has not taken those lessons to heart quite yet.

Yellow hair is the first to catch his hair, followed by the small smile of a girl long dead, and the large grin of a ridiculous boy that has left Kakashi with much more than just memories. He looks at himself last, withdrawn and distant and he wishes. Wishes that he allowed himself to get a little closer, allowed himself to open his arms and accept. It's all rather sad.

The picture is put back in its place, face down but still there in the corner of his eye. Disheveled silver hair is gripped tightly, and he rests his elbows on his knees with his head down and thinks. He thinks hard and long about another trio just as hopeless and shattered. It's only been a week since they've entered his life, and already Kakashi's heart is growing weary at the sight of them. Always squabbling, always tossing insults back and forth, and it leaves him stumbling with no idea what to do.

 _He doesn't know what to do._

The frame still sits in the corner of his eye, a constant presence that weighs on his shoulders. He wants nothing more than to find some sort of relief, some sort of acceptance in life. A boy with sunshine in his hair and sky blue eyes to match, a fierce cotton pink girl, and a lonely boy with shadows nipping at his heels flash through his mind. They've slipped into his dreams. He has seen them fade and fade until there's nothing left but echoes.

He can't bear to lose his team again.

Maybe he could find it himself to believe again.

* * *

The next morning he observes them. Lounges in the branches of a tree, watching as one by one they arrive to the training grounds. Sakura is first, her hair flowing behind her in waves. Naruto arrives next, bright colors and all, to the girl's disappointment. Despite all efforts of communication made by the blonde, she huffs and turns away, missing the flash of hurt Kakashi sees in blue eyes. Sasuke is last, sullen and indifferent, as late as he could possibly be in hopes to avoid any interaction with his teammates. The masked jounin stares, a familiar ache growing at the sight of them.

How could he help them? What could he possibly do to nurture any sort of bond between the three? Kakashi can read a person inside and out, find all the right buttons to push, manipulate someone in a way that leaves them questioning everything, but relationships are hard. Relationships take work, and they take a certain amount of willingness to even begin to form. It's been a long time since he's had someone there, since he's let someone actually _succeed_ in getting under his skin.

It takes two hours of sitting, observing, _waiting_ for some sort of epiphany. Some sort of realization that will make everything better, but such things don't exist. At least, not in his world.

 _He doesn't know what to do._

Another hour is spent doing absolutely nothing. He's long ago stopped watching the three little genin below, only staring ahead. _Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash_. Isn't that what he's devoted his life too? That one little rule that Kakashi has hold on to for so long.

He sighs, takes in a breath. It's not the miracle he was hoping for, just a little thought that gives him enough strength to drop from his perch, effectively shocking his students, but it's enough for right now.

The furious claims of ' _LATE_ ' instantly pep up the jounin's mood. After a few moments of arguing and Naruto gaining a nice little sore on the back of his head courtesy of the female of the team, the blonde turns toward him, eyes bright and body vibrating from pure excitement. It's rather flattering, seeing someone so eager for Kakashi's tutelage.

"What are we learning today sensei!" He only smiles, doing nothing but sitting down and crossing his legs in front of him. He quietly motions for the three to sit down, the four of them forming a small circle. Naruto sits to the left of him, leaning back on his hands with a grin and curiosity in his eyes. Sakura smooths the skirt of her dress as she sits in front of him, legs tucked under her in a manner that Kakashi can only describe as ' _lady like_ '. Sasuke is to his right, sitting similar to him but with his back straight and expression stoic. He looks regal, stern in a way that he's only seen in the Uchiha clan. It's interesting, how the body can tell so much of a person.

A memory of a time long gone passes through his mind, of another Team 7 sitting in a circle in hopes of _some_ sort of camaraderie to form. It worked, from what he remembers, if only for a little while.

He sees Naruto open his mouth from the corner of his, and Kakashi quickly shushes the boy. The training ground is silent.

Enjoying the awkward glances his students were giving him, he finally speaks. "Today we're going to do a little exercise." He smiles, looking at each of them before continuing. "I want each of you to tell me what you think is wrong with this team. Naruto, you start."

The blonde shifts in his spot, his grin slowly fading to a begrudging grimace. He sends a strong glare the Uchiha's way. "Sasuke's an _asshole_ , that's all I got."

"Naruto!" Sakura screeches, prepared to strike the boy for daring to, once again, insult her crush. Kakashi clears his throat, catching the girl's attention.

"Maa, no hitting in the team circle." The pink hair girl huffs, placing her hand back onto her lap. Relieved that he was able to stop that confrontation, he turns to look at the blonde, still smiling. "Naruto, constructive criticism, please." A beat of blue eyes narrowing and Kakashi swears Naruto's eyes flash red. A grin forms, all teeth and sharp.

"Fine, Sasuke _hates_ us. He doesn't talk to us, wants nothing to do with this team, and acts like we should be fucking grateful that he's even here. It's _insulting_." Sasuke only looks irritated by the other boy's words, an angry snarl on his lips. Sakura continues to glare at the blonde.

"What about you, idiot! You're always calling Sasuke-kun names and picking fights!" There's a red hue to her cheeks, her anger with her least prefered teammate rising.

Naruto bristles, pointing an accusing finger at the Uchiha. His grin is gone. "Sakura-chan! I'm not the only one, he does it too!" For once the blonde let his frustration take over, more than just angry with his teammate, but with every cold glance that has been sent his way in his life. Kakashi does nothing but let the scene in front of him unfold.

"You _deserve_ it, dead last." All heads turn at the insult. Naruto's eyes are wide and his canines flash. Despite the anger Kakashi can see raw hurt in the boy's expression.

" _Go to **hell** , Uchiha_." The blonde spits, his muscles wound up, ready to fly or fight his way through this. The white knuckles from the boy's clenching fist suggest the later.

"Naruto, let's cal-" He tries to sooth the anger, but Naruto only turns on him, his lips curling into a frown.

"No! I want this team to be something. I _need_ this team to be different, and it's not!" There's a desperaity to his voice now, and it catches everyone's attention with worrisome glances. " _Everyone_ treats me like I'm just a waste of space!"

The boy's breath is ragged now, deep and harsh in anger. Sakura opens her mouth, stumbles over her words in shock. Even Sasuke looks unsettled by the state his teammate is in. Kakashi looks at the boy in wonder, saddened by how much the genin seems to be holding back. There's only so much you can let out when no one bothers to listen. He supposes very few have seen Naruto as more than a smiling fool, with no sense and no skill.

Silence thunders.

"Sakura." The girl turns her head to face him, her mouth agape and her face fading to a light pink. "It's your turn." Taking a moment to clear her thoughts, she sends an unsure glance to the smoldering blonde, turns away, and breathes.

" We..." Another glance of unsurity, this time directed to the black haired boy to her left. "We...don't view each other as equals." Jade green eyes look directly at him, the girl doing her best to not stare at anything, or anyone, else around her. "A team needs to stand on equal footing, and we just...don't"

Sakura sets her gaze down, fingers tightly gripping her red dress. Despite the shame on her face, there's a thoughtful expression hidden beneath, her brow furrowed and eyes distant. Kakashi smiles under his mask. When the girl wasn't fawning over her crush, or worrying about every small dishevelment to her appearance, she was _thinking_. There was a reason the girl was the smallest in her class, gifted with an analytical mind and an ability to put the pieces together.

It's an improvement, a small one, but still an improvement.

The only one left is the brooding Uchiha to his right, silent and observing. Three pairs of eyes turn to look at the dark haired boy, Naruto having calmed down a few moments ago. There's a blush beginning to form on Sakura' face, and Kakashi wonders when she'll realize that the boy next to her would never be who she thought. At least, not anytime soon.

"Sasuke." A stare off commences, and soon enough the Uchiha gives in with an angry scoff. Kakashi narrows his visible eye, clearly smiling despite the mask. He'll get through to this one soon enough.

"They're _weak_." A low growl rumbles from Naruto's throat, animalistic in a way that only means danger. Sakura's blush transforms into mortification. It's harsh, but perhaps harsh is what this team needs at the moment. He catches Sasuke' glance, sending a stern stare to the boy. However, too much harshness could only make things worse.

Dark eyes roll in irritation. If Sasuke would actually speak more than a few words a day, Kakashi imagines the boy would be incredibly sarcastic. "Teams need to be _balanced_." The word comes out like a curse, bitter and sharp. Yes, while balance important, this boy needs power. He yearns for vengeance like it's a lost lover, and that sort of thirst is hard to quench. "You can't have members of the team overpowering the others, and you can't have members falling behind." The last part is pointed directly at the cotton pink girl next to him, because no matter how resentful of it Sasuke might be, he can't deny the quick progress Naruto is making.

It seems being on the same team as his rival only gave him more motivation.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura mutters, her eyes shining. Kakashi sees Naruto lift his hand, as if reaching out to comfort the girl, before setting it back down. The boy promptly decides to lean back with a sour expression, in no mood to to interact with anyone at the moment.

No movement, no sound, and as Kakashi looks at every individual face in front of him, he can't help but to smile. There's a thoughtful look in each pair of eyes, and it makes his hope for this team rise.

"You all did well, and gave accurate feedback." His students stare at him in surprise, having forgotten the jounin was there. "Team 7 has traditionally been a combat team, sent to the front lines during war. In that sort of situation you need more than skill, you need _trust_. Do you trust your teammates?" The smile is gone, leaving behind a stern expression that tells only of how serious this conversation is. Dying is a gruesome aspect of reality, even more so in the life of a shinobi.

A small mistake could have disastrous effects.

Kakashi let the atmosphere remain tense, his student's rigid and at attention.

"Now!" He says with a loud clap of his hands, the three genin jumping in shock. The jounin smiles at the three glares directed towards him, enjoying the trio's startled reactions. "Who wants lunch?"

Naruto immediately perks up with a blinding grin, waving his hand in the air with excitement. " _I say Ichiraku_!"

* * *

 **AN: Some may have noticed that this story went under some heavy reconstruction soon after it was originally posted. I just didn't like what I had, thought it was shoddy work, and didn't like the direction it was going. So here we go! Reboot.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, all rights to Kishimoto.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Persona Non Grata

* * *

" _Isaac will you never learn_

 _That a father's love must be earned_

 _Or your mother need not learn_

 _Isaac I have never seen you look so afraid_

 _With your head pressed so hard against the stone_

 _You look so alone" - Isaac : Bear's Den_

* * *

Naruto decided a long time ago that being him is hard. Twelve years of cold glances and outright hateful glares eventually weighs down on a person's shoulders. The isolation that comes with the role of 'village pariah' is a soul-wrenching thing, and he wouldn't wish that life upon anyone.

In a way, Naruto can understand. He's a reminder. A walking memory of a dark day where people died and loved ones were lost, and the reason for all that destruction trapped inside of his stomach, only skin and ink holding the demon back. Once upon a time, though, he didn't know. He didn't see what he could have possibly done wrong to garner such alienation from the villagers, and he hated them for it. Hated their stares and whispered words.

So he adopted the idea that negative attention is better than nothing, and made his already loud personality even louder. He pranked and failed and smiled through it all, with a grin so big his eyes narrowed shut. The lines between Naruto Uzumaki and the dead last began to blur, and he lost himself in the effort of trying not to let the world affect him.

Earlier, sitting in an uneven circle with his team, that line sharpened. The grin faded, and Naruto got angry. It's been a long time since he let himself let go like that, a long time since he felt his chest get warm and his throat constrict. Naruto hates being angry. He hates how everyone looks at him after seeing his eyes flash and his teeth bare. He hates how scared they look, because anger is a dangerous thing, and the thought of the container being dangerous is more frightful than anything.

The blonde walks into his apartment, eyebrows furrowed and a frown on his lips. It's silent, as always, and not for the first time he wonders what it's like to have someone waiting for you.

He still doesn't know what came over him, and as he leans against the door with a sigh, he's a little scared of what might happen because of it.

* * *

Sakura doesn't greet her mother when she comes home. Emotionally exhausted, she trudges up the stairs to her room, plops down on her bed, closes her eyes, and thinks.

 _'you can't have members_ _**falling behind**_ _.'_

The words twist and turn in her head, and she knows they're right. She doesn't come from a shinobi clan. She doesn't have any family jutsu to learn and give her an advantage. No, Sakura's smart, and what good is that if she has no skill to back it up? What good is memorizing facts and maps and all sorts of things, if she can't hold her own in a battle?

Ever since she was a little girl, Sakura wanted to be a shinobi. She wanted to learn to fight and protect and be more than just a merchant's daughter. Looking back, she sees that somewhere along the way she lost that. That determination, that mindset of 'I'm going to do this and succeed and no one can stop me'. Somewhere between losing Ino and finding Sasuke, she became less fixated on proving people wrong and more fixated on trying to fit into what they thought she should be.

 _'they're weak.'_

 _'you can't have members_ _ **falling behind**_ _.'_

Those words hurt. For so long she has strived for that boy's attention. Watched him and admired him, looking for any sort of acknowledgment. Sasuke Uchiha. Rookie of the Year, strong and confident in a way Sakura doesn't think she'll ever be, and she wants to be. Even Naruto, always smiling and always trying, is racing ahead of her, and she wants to catch up so badly. She doesn't want to stand in back, ever constant and never moving, to be left behind. It's hard, and a challenge that she might not be, but she has to at least try.

Her bed is soft beneath her, and Sakura drifts away dreaming bigger than she was before.

* * *

Sometimes Sasuke talks to himself. Not the manic chattering of a mind teetering on the edge, but simple comments that fill the silence that echoes throughout the Uchiha compound. It's a small comfort, anything to distract him from the dark spots that still stain the floors of his home. He doesn't need to be reminded of what he lost.

He picks up a tomato with his chopsticks, watching as the flesh bleeds into his bowl of rice. It's a simple dish. Easy to make and a common meal for the Uchiha to have. Learning to cook was a hard lesson for him to learn, he loathes to admit. Most days are bowls of rice and whatever he picks up at the market that doesn't require more than five minutes in a pan.

He finishes, muttering something to himself about needing more rice, sits back in his chair, and ponders.

' _Saskue_ _ **hates**_ _us.'_

It isn't too far-fetched to say Sasuke doesn't particularly like his team. The girl is a pest, his sensei is lazy, and Naruto is a walking ray of sunshine, hot-headed and blinding. Hate, however, is a strong word that boy only reserves for one person. He doesn't hate a lot of people, and while he doesn't allow himself to love anyone either, he doubts he could ever hate someone as much as he hates Itachi.

How dare Naruto accuse him of that, with his laughs, and his foolish behavior, and his always smiling.

' _Everyone treats me like I'm just a waste of space!'_

He scoffs. So what is the blonde was angry? So what if there's more than there seems to be to his teammate. The boy has never experienced the pain Sasuke has.

Then he remembers how the adults stare at the idiot, cold and dismissive. He remembers how his father would tell him to stay away from the boy, if only just to save face for the clan. He remembers the boy doesn't have anyone either, and never has, and that he knows loneliness just as well as Sasuke has.

He curses, chastising his habit of relating to the boy.

He doesn't want connections. He doesn't want friends. He needs powers, and he needs it quick for all the blood that still spills behind his eyes. He needs revenge for the ghost that still wander in the corner of his eye, and maybe it will ruin him in the end. Maybe the hate will consume, and he'll sink into an abyss so dark he'll never come out, but right now he has to risk that.

Then someday, after he's won and Itachi's blood cakes his hands, he'll try. He'll attempt to connect, but how can he when the man who killed the family he wasn't strong enough to protect is still out there.

Yes, it's best he stay alone, despite the want coiling in his chest.

* * *

Three sleepy genin, Kakashi decides, is a very amusing sight.

For that past week Kakashi had been waking up his students in the morning, just when the sun began to rise, and trudged them along to training ground thirteen. Sasuke and Naruto, much to his shock, were very silent when sleep deprived. The boys barely spoke, trailing a good distance behind. At some point they seemed to form a truce for these mornings, leaning against one another as they walked, trying to keep the other upright and awake. It was a very hopeful sight the first Kakashi noticed.

Sakura however, was absolutely murderous. The girl never strayed too far from her place behind the jounin, keeping a constant glare set on his back as her feet dragged through the dirt. He smiled at her once and got a prompt kick aimed at the back of his knee. She even snapped at Sasuke in one memorable moment, irked when the boy dared to accidentally step on the back of her heels. Both of her teammates made sure to keep their distance after that.

Her glare only grew stronger when he told them to start running laps.

"Sakura, run." She turns toward the Uchiha, hair flying, and jade eyes hard. It's quite an intent stare off that occurs between the two, until the girl looks away with a blush and begins a light jog with her teammates.

"I hate him." Naruto, finally awake and aware, nods his head. Sasuke, slightly ahead of the two, huffs in agreement.

"I'll dye his hair pink." Kakashi overhears the blonde mutter, the other smiling and beginning to, what Kakashi imagines, plot.

It seems he'll have to keep an eye on all of his hair products for a while.

* * *

 **AN: This is way shorter than the last chapter, but I wanted to post something that showed a little progress for the characters. Third chapter should be posted soon, as I'm almost done with semester exams.**

 **Disclaimer: All rights of Naruto to Kishimoto.**


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